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What's really going on inside the royal sisterhood ? A look at the rapport between Kate and Meghan

Meghan Markle, left, and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge laugh during the first annual Royal Foundation Forum in London, Wednesday Feb. 28, 2018. Under the theme 'Making a Difference Together', the event will showcase the programmes run or initiated by The Royal Foundation.Photo: Chris Jackson/Pool

The Telegraph

Published: November 27, 2018 - 4:49 PM

Updated: November 28, 2018 - 2:34 PM

It was only a matter of time before all eyes would be on Kate and Meghan and how well they did — or didn’t — get on. The royal sisterhood has not been under this much scrutiny since a young Princess Diana and an excitable Fergie joined the household in the Eighties.

As one insider put it: “They are very different women, despite their similar circumstances. Meghan is an extrovert, whereas Kate is quite shy.”

It is certainly helping the rumours along that the Sussexes are moving to Windsor amid rumours of “tensions” with the Cambridges.

The contrast was plain to see when they appeared together at the first ever Royal Foundation Forum in February. Meghan appeared to speak with more confidence than Kate, despite being the lower-ranking newcomer. Asked if there were any disagreements with the family working closely together, William joked: “Oh, yes!”

Harry added: “Working as family does have its challenges, of course it does. But we’re stuck together for the rest of our lives.”

They are very different women, despite their similar circumstances. Meghan is an extrovert, whereas Kate is quite shy

Rumours of disharmony between the so-called “Fab Four” had been rumbling behind palace gates before it was announced that Harry and Meghan would be moving to Frogmore Cottage.

But even the Cambridges once described Kensington Palace as a “goldfish bowl” and were able to escape to Anglesey and then Anmer Hall, their Norfolk bolt-hole, for the first five years of their marriage. So, as Harry and Meghan find their feet, it is perhaps understandable that they should seek to do so away from the royal “court”.

It is a special place for them, too. They used Frogmore as a location for their engagement pictures upon the Queen’s suggestion, and its newly renovated grounds make an idyllic location to raise a family.

While Kate grew up with the trials and tribulations of the family she married into, Meghan has always been a step removed from the soap opera playing out across the pond. As a woman from a completely different country and culture, she has had to integrate herself into an alien world with archaic procedures.

This perhaps goes some way to explain why her reported 5am wake-up calls and email “bombardments” of staff may have raised eyebrows.

The sudden departure of Meghan’s personal assistant, known only as Melissa, added to speculation that the former Suits star is difficult to work for and “snaps” at staff. However, her supporters insist the “charming” Duchess is “a breath of fresh air”.

Britain’s Prince Charles, left, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, 2nd left, Price William, Meghan Markle, fiancee of Prince Harry, 2nd right and Prince Philip, right, as they wait for the Queen to leave by car following the traditional Christmas Day church service, at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, England, Monday, Dec. 25, 2017.

But the talk of a growing froideur between Kate and Meghan really ramped up following rumours of an apparent falling out in the run-up to the Sussexes’ wedding in May.

The Daily Telegraph has spoken to two sources who claim Kate was left in tears following a bridesmaids’ dress fitting for Princess Charlotte.

“Kate had only just given birth to Prince Louis and was feeling quite emotional,” said one insider.

It was around that time that Meghan was reported to have also “upset” the Queen by asking to wear an emerald tiara instead of the one offered by the 92-year-old monarch. It came after a book by royal journalist Robert Jobson described Harry as “petulant and short-tempered” in the build-up to the Windsor Castle wedding.

He allegedly told staff, with a raised voice: “What Meghan wants, Meghan gets.” When reports reached the Queen, she “put him firmly in his place”, Mr Jobson wrote.

Rumours of any lingering ill-feeling between the Queen and Meghan appear wide of the mark, however. The two women enjoyed their first solo engagement together in Cheshire in June. And earlier this month the Queen entrusted Meghan to “look after” Elke Budenbender, wife of the German president, during the Remembrance commemorations, in a move that saw her separated from Kate, who was on an adjacent balcony with the Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Despite being welcomed into the family fold, the attitude “below stairs” has apparently not been universally positive, with some giving the relationship “five years”.

The catty gossip reportedly hit fever pitch when Meghan’s father, Thomas, pulled out of the wedding at the last minute. The drama reduced both Meghan and Harry to tears, which perhaps explains why the Prince went to such great lengths to ensure his bride-to-be could have everything she wanted on her big day.

A source said: “Some of the staff don’t seem to want to give Meghan a chance. Harry is besotted and understandably extremely protective of her.”

At Princess Eugenie’s wedding, the Sussexes were criticised for sharing news of their pregnancy at the champagne reception. William and Kate — not usually prone to public displays of affection — appeared much more at ease as they held hands throughout the service.

A source close to the Yorks told the Telegraph that Eugenie was “upset” that the Sussexes did not attend the evening reception together. The Cambridges, meanwhile, “made a night of it”, according to fellow guests.

However, one person who is said to be “completely taken” with Meghan is Prince Charles. Insiders say it is his new daughter-in-law who has encouraged Harry to have a closer relationship with his father and it was Harry, not William, who delivered a heartfelt speech to mark his father’s milestone at a garden party in the summer. William and Kate were not present, choosing to visit Centrepoint – one of Diana’s charities – on the day of Charles’s actual birthday. Although both couples attended his party that evening, they all reportedly left early.

“They went before Prince Philip, which is quite unusual,” said a source. “Like most people their age, it seems they are leading very busy lives.”

And, like in most families, those lives are not always as perfect as the fairy tales would have us believe.